United States presidential election, 2000

The United States presidential election, 2000 was held on 7 November 2000. The incumbent Vice President Al Gore became the Democratic Party nominee, and Joe Lieberman was chosen as his running mate; he was challenged by the Republican Party ticket of Texas governor George W. Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney. The US Green Party ticket of Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke spoiled the election for the Democrats, as they drew progressive voters away from the Democrats; the Democrats lost the decisive state of Florida by a .009% margin. The election resulted in Bush winning 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266, but he lost the popular vote 47.9% to 48.4%. A vote recount in Florida was demanded, as there were allegedly malfunctions in the voting machines that left "hanging chads", meaning that some voter cards were not punched through, thereby withholding some votes from the Democrats (as well as Republicans). The case went to the US Supreme Court, and the court settled Bush v. Gore in a 5-4 vote, which led to Bush being controversially confirmed as the winner.